Live is where the Monads shine: Unlike many groups, the quartet strikes a united front – all four players stand in a straight line during performances. (In person the quartet also strikes a unified pose: For the St. Patrick’s Day interview, all happen to be wearing various shades of green.)

(photo by Tammy Leahy)

Please enjoy a few interview outtakes and some MP3s from Ornery below.

How Jenna Schroeder came to play upright bass...Jason Matthews: It was cool, ‘cause Jenna never picked up an upright bass in her entire life. She had just got let go of one band – and I could tell she was just pissed about it. So I was like "Here, take this upright bass." Two weeks later, we had our first show with her in the band.”What’s the difference between playing upright bass and regular bass?Jenna Schroeder: Well, there’s no frets…Matthews: How about three feet?
[all laugh]Schroeder: It’s about a foot taller than me, there’s no frets on it. And you really gotta work up some calluses that you don’t need on a bass guitar. It is a different style, you pluck it completely different. And you look a lot cooler!

What got you guys into music?Matthews: I was a big new-waver and then a punk rocker.

Matt Shivelbine: I’ve kind of got a musical family, we own a music store in Cape Girardeau. So I was always around it. One of my first memories is learning how to play violin when I was like, four years old. I played classical music all the way through college, did a lot of string quartet stuff to get scholarships and make money playing weddings and stuff to get through college. Then once I got out, I had wanted to play, but I was sick of being in orchestras and stuff. I played classical music, but I always listened to rock and punk and all kinds of different music. When I met these guys and saw what they were doing, I was like, "I can do this, this is what I really wanted to do." I started learning some of their songs when they didn’t even know about it.

Patrick Eagan: I picked up guitar [in the] summer between eighth grade and freshman year of high school – you know, to meet chicks. I’m still waiting for it to work. [laughs] I just kind of bummed around for awhile, played in some bands in college, cover bands. Got out of college and was playing in a punk-rock band. That band and the monads had the same bas player, and that’s how I came into this band. This fits way better than anything else that I’ve ever done.